The Zhejiang Pearl Sellers of 1920s Paris

An interesting little story that appeared in the American newspapers in the 1920s – (fake) pearl sellers, a hundred or so, in Paris apparently attracted to the French capital by the tales of returning Chinese Labour Corps members. A strange tale as most of the CLC came from Shandong (though we know when they returned many got off the boat in Shanghai and stayed in the eastern China region. But, fake Zhejiang pearls were a well-known and big business between the wars and often a way for new emigrants to Europe to start making some money. Paris was a centre (as much of the business was done through a Sino-French company), but they were also spotted in Dutch, German and Spanish cities (and apparently Tokyo too) in the 1920s and 1930s.